Amid raging row over an event in the Jawaharlal Nehru University where anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised, noted actor Anupam Kher said freedom of speech does not mean people have the right to create disunity in the country.
"How can people raise slogans to decimate India in a big university JNU in the nation's capital? What kind of freedom of speech is this, which poses threat to the nation's unity?" Kher, who arrived here to take part in a drama, told reporters last night.
"You can raise slogans against anyone if you are angry with any government. But you don't have the right to play with the unity of the country. No question arises of pardoning them," the 60-year-old actor said.
He also expressed annoyance over politics being played on the JNU issue.
"Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is stating that he will get the matter investigated from a district magistrate. Has he (Kejriwal) not seen the video related to the incident?" he asked.
Kher said the country is currently passing through a phase which will expose many faces and it will help the country in the longer run.
The raging JNU row has turned into an ideological battle between BJP and its Left opponents, with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi lending them support and comparing the Narendra Modi government with Hitler's regime.
The arrest of JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, a leader of CPI-affiliated student outfit, set the two sides on the warpath, with the government declaring that the varsity cannot be allowed to be a "hub of anti-national" activities.
The students, agitating for the release of Kanhaiya have threatened to go on strike from Monday.
Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding an event at JNU against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. During the event, anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised, while denouncing the hanging of Guru.
